You might have known that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 which is also known as the Samsung Galaxy Tab II was revealed at MWC just a while ago. After the announced of the iPad 2 that underwent a strict diet, Samsung had brought the 10.1 back to the drawing board. As a result, they have redesigned the tablet which now weighs 595 grams and with reduced thickness of just 8.6mm, which is 0.2mm thinner than the iPad 2. As comparison, the earlier 10.1 was 599 grams and 10.9mm thick.

In terms of hardware specs, it features a 1280×800 XGA display, dual core 1GHz processor, stereo surround speakers and 6800mAh battery which provides up to 10 hours of usage. As expected, it runs on Android 3.0 Honeycomb but with Samsung’s customised TouchWiz 4.0 skin.

In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will have support for 4G in a form of HSPA+ and they will be coming out LTE and WiMAX versions later. For enhanced reception, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes with dual antennas.

To bring out the potential of the new Tablets, Samsung has done more in the software segment to give it a customised user experience. Some may argue that this spoils the Pure Google experience but from our experience, some customisation does work perfectly like HTC Sense. For the new Samsung tablets, the TouchWiz 4.0 is expected to bring this to the next level. They will be introducing Live Panel which is basically an improved tablet home screen with widgets that provide constantly updated dynamic contents and Mini Apps Tray that lets you launch shortcut apps that runs on top of what you’re doing. Also improved is Samsung’s Social Hub which offers unified messaging and better social feed management. Since this is a multimedia power packed device, they are also introducing Music Hub which provides various music contents on your fingertips.

All is not just about fun and games as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes with an array of business tools as well. This includes support for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, Exchange ActiveSync, Sybase Afaria, CISCO AnyConnect VPN and QuickOffice.

Samsung doesn’t believe in a one size fits all concept and they believe in giving consumers choice depending on what they need. With that, they have introduced the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. It also features the same 8.6mm thickness as leaked earlier and it weights 740 grams. In terms of battery, it is slightly smaller at 6000mAh but also stated to provide up to 10 hours of usage.

From what we digest, the 8.9″ is similarly spec’ed as its larger 10.1 sibling but we’ll find out more once the full specification is out.

In terms of pricing, Samsung obviously had to revise their plans after the unveiling of the iPad 2. At last night’s event, they have revealed some pricing and availability details of the tablets.

For the Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi only model, the 16GB version is going at US$499 while the 32GB version is going for $599, which is the same as the iPad 2. It will be made available in the US on 8th June.

Meanwhile the Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi version is priced at $469 and $569 for 16GB and 32GB respectively. Availability for the 8.9 is slated for Summer which is around middle of this year.

No pricing yet for 4G versions but Samsung has assured that it will be competitively priced as well.

The new Samsung tablets are probably the biggest threat to the iPad in the market. Spec for spec, the 10.1 and 8.9 looks to be very capable devices. Also not forgetting this time around they have Honeycomb, Android’s first tablet specific OS. Expectations are definitely high for these new tablets and we would like to see its impact when it hits the market.

For us folks in Malaysia, no ideas on pricing and availability for now. Hopefully when Samsung brings them in, they will consider their pricing carefully and not make it more expensive like the Galaxy Tab when it was launched here.

Last year, the original Galaxy Tab reached Malaysia a month before the iPad. So which one will reach first? Galaxy Tab or iPad 2? We just can’t wait!

Find out what we think of the Samsung Galaxy Tab in our recent review.

9 Comments for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 & 8.9 officially revealed

I have a Galaxy Tab 7-inch already and its been awesome. Bought the device mostly due to the perfect size!!!

I wonder how big the 8.9 is compared to the many 10-inch screen tablets because when I compared the 7-inch screen Tab to the ipad, the ipad looks like an A4 legal pad (hence the name) and the Tabby (thats what I affectionately call mine) stands just half of ipad's overall physical size.

I like these renewed tablets. I just sold my Galaxy Tab (7 inch) and have been looking for the next Honeycomb version. Was initially thinking about the Xoom, but it looks like Sammy's got a winner here.
Personally, I think 10.1 is a bit too big, so I might just go for the 8.9 one.
However, I really don't like the TouchWiz interface. Why can't this be on HTC's Sense UI? I would jump on it immediately if it runs Sense UI.

A polished tablet-specific OS, better hardware than iPad, there's no denying the tablets from Samsung and Motorola are winners. A year after the iPad revolution, picking a tablet is not as straight forward as it was before and this is good for everyone.

The question is, how eager are Samsung and Motorola to want to win market share here in Malaysia?

We feel most Malaysian tablet prospects are still on the fence. Most gravitate to the iPad because there are no real contenders in the market. With the new generation Galaxy Tabs there is.

If Samsung can hit the market early and price the Tab reasonably, Apple Malaysia will have a fight in its hands.

As for the TouchWiz interface. We agree that the old version wasn't as polished and didn't feel as integrated with the Android OS as HTC' Sense. But what we've seen with the new Tabs, you'd be in for a pleasant surprise.

To me this is probably the only real competition for the Ipad 2 and I've been waiting for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 since forever. The Ipad 2 has already been launched in Malaysia for a month or so but we still have no news from Samsung… any idea when this is gonna be out?

I am from Malaysia and will be in Europe next week for 2 months – can someone please please tell me if [1] I purchase a 3G model of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or the Galaxy 8.9, can it be used in Malaysia [2] am i correct to assume that the WiFi model can be used anywhere ?

Having said that, seeing that you will be in Europe for two months, it might go on sale while you're there. With Europe some operators have SIM lock on their devices so if you're purchasing from an operator make sure that there's no SIM lock. Other than that, the 3G standard is roughly the same so it will work in Malaysia with a Malaysian SIM card (so long as it's not SIM locked).